Interesting facts about Canada's PMs

Swine flu vaccine expires

1977 — The vaccine for swine flu that has been in storage for nearly a year is about to expire and will be flushed away. Health Minister Marc Lalonde had announced the intention of vaccinating nine million Canadians even though there were no cases of swine flu in the country at the time.

The government of Pierre Trudeau was following the lead of President Gerald Ford in the U.S. who had introduced a flu vaccination program after the outbreak of swine flu cases south of the border. The pandemic never really happened, turning the vaccine programs into a fiasco.